Sands hit hard; No toilet paper for you!

Macao‘s recession has affected Las Vegas Sands‘ most recent quarterly results and the news isn’t good. You know things are bad Sands Cotaiwhen Sands Bethlehem ($137.5 million, +9%) is the lone bright spot. At least LVS had only mildly adverse news on the Strip, where Venelazzo ($346 million) was down 2%. But the numbers from Macao were varying degrees of dire. Even in Singapore, things weren’t so good, with Marina Bay Sands ($713 million) reporting an 11% dip. Getting back to China, hardest hit were Venetian Macao ($739.5 million) down 28% and Sands Cotai Central ($554 million) falling 29%.

Sands Macao  ($242 million) also had a rough quarter, off 23%, but Four Seasons Macao provided a relative bright spot, down 11% and bringing in $204 million. Sands’ predominant exposure to Macao means that when, say, Jim Murren gets wet Sheldon Adelson is drenched.

* Judge Benjamin Goldgar has ruled that fraudulent-conveyance lawsuits against Caesars Entertainment may proceed. The bottom line is that it is almost inevitable now that the parent company will join Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. in bankruptcy. The news sparked a big selloff on Wall Street. The company has already racked up a $47 million legal bill in its Chapter 11 proceeding and it doesn’t get cheaper from this point.

* Gov. Mike Pence‘s anti-gambling sentiments are making life miserable for euchre-playing senior citizens who are vying prizes as humble as a package of toilet paper. It’s penny-ante competition but, by golly, the Indiana Gaming Commission is going to put a stop to it. In a similar story, a Florida law aimed at cracking down on gray-market Internet casinos was so sloppily drafted that Walt Disney World had to remove all its claw machines. Seriously, does anyone think that Disney World is a hotbed of illegal wagering?

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